Red Card Cancer was initiated in the Fall of 2009 on the campus of Bloomsburg University. Paul Payne, Men’s Head Coach at Bloomsburg University, started the program as a tribute to longtime friend and mentor, Joe Bochicchio, Women’s Head Coach at Scranton University. When Joe passed away after losing his battle with melanoma, Payne began the campaign to raise awareness about cancer in the soccer community and raise funds for research. It was just a small grass roots effort to raise awareness about the destruction of cancer, especially among the soccer community, and hopefully make a difference, no matter how small.

That year 17 programs (16 college teams and 1 high school team) reached out and wanted to become part of the effort. October 3rd, 2009 was then designated Red Card Cancer day across the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. In its first day, Red Card Cancer raised over $5,000.